I collect antique quilts. I am not obsessive about it, but when I find something unusual and the price is fair, I will purchase it. This crazy quilt is my latest find. My guess is that the silks are all from men’s ties. The embroidery is beautiful, very well done. For me it is a relatively recent quilt, since it had a 1968 quilt date embroidered on one of the pieces. The quilter also randomly added labels from the ties as well as clothing. I even found a face on one corner of the silks. I have looked in vain for a signature, but there is none to be found. I think this is sad, no provenance or documentation.
Detail of date and labels.
I purchased the quilt for the back as much as the front. This picture simply does not do justice to the beauty and detail and color of this fabric. It is a very, very fine cotton. My guess is that it is European because the quality is so exceptional.
Many years before I purchased this quilt, I bought a square silk and velvet patchwork, all triangles with a scalloped pieced border. The backing was a prequilted solid piece of ivory silk. I took a quilt dating class and shared this with the class, and the teachers said this sort of backing was not uncommon on crazy quilts or quilts in similar genres. The afternoon I brought the quilt home I sat down to study all the various fabrics and noticed that some had been covered over with other fabrics. I started removing these to see what the original pieces were like underneath. Finally at 3 AM I put the piece aside and went to bed. Taking these mended pieces off to expose the original was addictive and fascinating. Later I realized the original silks underneath had probably been weighted with metallic salts to give the silks better volume and weight. This was a procedure done in the second half of the nineteenth century and was called weighting . However, it shortened the life of the silk. So many of these quilts have not aged well and the silk has disintegrated. My youngest daughter has this quilt. She fell in love with it, and I am weak at keeping things if other people love them as I do. Someday I will post a photo of it.
This book is one of the best I have found on this subject. It documents sericulture as well as the history of silk to its use in contemporary quiltmaking. The photos are also wonderful on all of these subjects.
The quilt is beautiful. I made up my own story about a woman trying to get on with her life and so she took her husband’s ties, took a snip here or there and made herself a lovely quilt and then decided the work was therapy enough and sold it. The mind is so filled with imagination some time. It is a beautiful quilt and I love the backing too.
What a lovely story. That just might be true.
What a beauty! and I really like the way she lovingly stitched in labels along with the silk, an intriguing touch. Such a shame there isn’t a name or signature. The stitching is exquisite! The use of colour looks very ‘Victorian’, all those burgundies, reds and creams.
It is such a shame about weighted silk, I read about this a while ago, and it helps to explain why some Victorian silks are so frail compared to older oriental silks for example.
How exciting to unpick pieces to reveal the older quilt beneath! I am in the process of doing this with a wreck of a French quilt, too damaged to do anything with, but with the most incredible cob-web remains of 2 types of early indienne cotton beneath the late 19th century outer layer! When the project is complete, I shall probably post on my blog…
A real pleasure to read your posts as always, all the best, Lois x
Your observation of this quilt was much like mine. I felt the colors, stitching, and style to be very Victorian as well. It actually makes me wonder if this was started during this time period and perhaps finished by someone later, maybe a family member as the one that Karen shared a few posts back.
Lois, I would love to see this French quilt that you are working on! Would you be willing to share a photo as you work on it? I think these old, old quilts are the most beautiful even if they are worn and “wrecked”. The indienne cottons were so beautiful! This must be a joy to work on and discover the lovely treasures it holds. Thank you for your compliment. That means a lot coming from someone with such an array of beautiful and worthy textiles.
Happy Mother’s Day. I hope you are basking in the love!
That silk quilt is to envy and that I am doing, big time. But I may have to solve that envy by making my own. That is always a cure for me.
But that one is really lovely. Someday tell us the story of how you run into these things. And please don’t tell us ebay.
Really beautiful!
Happy Mother’s Day to you too Pat. This quilt was not appreciated by the dealer who sold it to me, so I probably paid less than it was worth. The stitching is really nice and fun amusements here and there in terms of the labels, etc. I do not buy on ebay primarily because I love to touch and fondle and cuddle before opening my pocketbook. I am selective and only buy what I really love.
Hi, how interesting that you think your quilt may have been started earlier than the 1960s! And thank you for your compliments. I shall try to sort out a photo or two of the damaged beauty and post as it progresses. It is quite an exciting task, although the damage is so great, it will only ever be a good refernce. I would value your opinion about the fabrics involved! xx
I will look forward to this post. What fun it will be to see how you uncover and honor this treasure. I consider you the expert, but how nice to have a chance to see this transformation.
removing the newer fabrics off of this quilt sounds like something i would do and get a ton of satisfaction from. a kind of anthropologist at work…
i find that i buy vintage linens, fabrics and clothing even if they are not usable. i bring them out and touch them and dream about the life they might of led, or the loving hands that made them.
You are a woman of my own heart. I love buying old things that have no use other than dreams of what they might have been. I imagine the lives, the occasions worn, the reasons these pieces were given up or left behind…a good anthropological dig! Your description touched the mystery of why people are drawn to these worn and lovely pieces.
Hi, I just thought I would let you know, I have posted the first piece about the damaged French quilt, but I am starting a new blog for it and other ruminations about wierd and wonderful textiles. The blog is called Interesting antique Textiles!
I hope you enjoy the progess of deconstruction. xx
Lois,
I am so happy to hear about your new blog and the new textile stories you will share. I can’t wait to go over and look at the French quilt. Thank you for posting this. What fun.